The state board for wildlife (SBWL) has cleared the expansion of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) by 79 sq km due to the lack of sufficient land area. The Karwa village will be relocated outside of Tadoba for this purpose leaving the core area to 704 sq km. There are 52 tiger reserves in India and after the expansion, Tadoba will be elevated to 25th position from 31st. The decision came up at the 17th SBWL meeting chaired by the honourable Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey. Karwa village is a part of the buffer zone of the reserve. It is the very first time when a village from a buffer zone is being relocated with the voluntary consent of the people. After the shift, 79 sq km of land inclusive of the village will be added to the reserve area.
Around 240 families from the village are facing difficulties due to no human habitation up to 15 km from Karwa. The relocation will need Rs. 70-75 crores. It will be a win-win situation for both tigers and humans. The man-animal conflict is heightened at Tadoba due to the lack of land for the inhabiting tigers (86). Over 56 personnel have died in the last eight months. One other major decision taken by the SBWL was the approval of a 10-year state wildlife action plan (SWAP) from 2021-31. The board also approved reports by expert committees on human-leopard and human-tiger conflicts along with conservation translocation of tigers from Chandrapur district.
Learn about: Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve
